An Actor’s Nightmare

One of my most favorite musicals I was blessed enough to perform in was the historically based 1776. I remember when I was prepping for auditions how closely related I felt to the character Abigail Adams. Although my peers said I was a perfect Martha Jefferson, I wanted Abigail. She was a woman of strength and compassion and independence. In a way, one could say she represented the soon-to-be country’s independence John Adams was fighting for.

By studying the character through historical accounts from a history major and the letters she wrote to her husband, memorizing songs and scenes from the show itself, I walked into the auditions as Abigail. And was lucky enough to convince the director, Nick DeGruccio, and musical director, Steven Applegate, to believe that I was too. So when my agent called to tell me I got the part, you can imagine how ecstatic I was.

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Actress Christanna Rowader is an LA Ovation Award winner for her role as Mother in Ragtime. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and has three older half-siblings on her father’s side. Her parents, Darrell and Linda Rowader, live in Arizona (1993-present). Her father is a retired music teacher and guest conductor for the Prescott Pops Symphony and her mother is a registered nurse. Previously, both her parents were opera singers in Chicago (approx. 1979-1993).
Christanna was brought up in the theater world and was trained as a classical singer. At the age of 13, she landed her first lead role as the White Witch of Narnia in a children’s theater production. At 18, she moved to New York City and briefly studied at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (2003). After that, she moved to Arizona and studied musical theater at Arizona State University (2005-2009).
She graduated with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, concentrations in music and creative writing, then moved to Los Angeles, California.